Theatresports: It’s a sporting event and improv theatre all in one and it’s in Dubai

Where no one puts on wrestling gloves for a match in a ring or swings the bat on a field.

Kemsley and Tiffany Dickinson of Drama Dubai have opened the Courtyard Playhouse in the Al Quoz area of Dubai. Christopher Pike / The National

Theatresports, a registered improv group created by the theatre veteran Keith Johnstone in 1977, is now being offered for the first time in the Middle East by Drama Dubai.

The huddle

Kemsley Dickinson, who set up Drama Dubai with his wife six years ago, was accredited by the International Theatresports Institute in September to run workshops and classes and host performances based on the improvisational format.

He says that Johnstone, whose theatre mantra revolved around spontaneous acts to regale the audience, came up with the form after attending sports matches.

“When Keith was going through theatre, he realised that people attending plays were of a certain age and had a certain amount of money,” says Dickinson.

“When he went to wrestling matches he noticed a more diverse crowd in a packed hall. Everyone was shouting and enjoying themselves. As a theatre practitioner, he wanted to mix that audience with a theatre audience.”

Applying all the essentials of a sports match – creating teams, challenges, props, judges and points, albeit without the hostile competition – Johnstone put up his first improv show at the Pumphouse Theatre in Canada in 1977.

Now, the format is taught by more than 100 theatre companies around the world, with the first in the Middle East being in Dubai.

“The reason we brought it here is because it suits people from Dubai who have full-time jobs,” says Dickinson. “They do not have time to learn the lines and script or set up props. So they just have to turn up and improvise.”

The match

Two teams face off in an improvisation match, with their challenge determined by the audience or a set of judges.

“They may select a scene in Rome or Satwa or enact a marriage proposal,” says Dickinson.

Each game is of a fixed duration and judges can issue penalties for breaking time rules or for being obscene.

After the teams have performed, judges will either hold up scorecards or the audience will clap for the best team. The team that scores the most points at the end of three to four challenges wins.

“Essentially it is improv and the competitive element is where theatresports differs,” he says.

“But actually the competition is a facade, like it is in wrestling. It isn’t real. What we try to focus on is team work and feeding off others’ energy and performances.”

The coaching

Thinking on your feet needs a certain lesson in storytelling as well.

“What we try and encourage actors to do is to tell stories,” says Dickinson.

Actors are trained in narratives, how to create a platform establishing where they are, who they are with and what they are doing and then tilting the scene.

“For example, one says: ‘Captain the ship is sinking.’ The other replies: ‘Why, it is a pleasure to be by your side.’ That way we know this is a pirate ship. One member is the captain, the other is the first mate.”

He says it is important to avoid negativity while building a narrative – each player builds on what the other offers. “It is the ‘yes and ...’ technique,” he says. “Because you are starting with nothing, a negative statement or a response with a ‘no’ will not advance your story.

“The ‘yes and ...’ method allows you to progress and, within 30 minutes, you can create a reality to play around with. Negativity is counterproductive in improv – it’s good- natured acting that works best.”

• Drama Dubai teaches Theatresports and hosts performances at Courtyard Playhouse in Al Quoz. For more information, visit www.dramaworkshopsdubai.com, courtyardplayhouse.com or theatresports.com

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